06/10/2009

More research - Francesca Woodman

I like Woodman's work because i feel that where she hides part of figure it shows that she doesnt want a certain part of them to be shown because it isnt what society wants to see or the personality of that person has something odd or different about it.

Her pictures could also show someone hiding or in pain.. Hidden identities because of something they are scared of

3 comments:

It takes guts to post childhood photos of yourself! I very much like the idea of using them in your final portrait; they recall that Barthes' quotation about 'looking at a photograph of my mother as a child, I tell myself, she is going to die...' You seem to respond to the innocence in them - a 'prelapsarian' ideal (look it up!) - I think there's something potent there; likewise your interest in Francesca Woodman, who obviously killed herself after those images were taken; again, we're looking at photographs of something that continued on after the shutter went click, moving the subject towards their destiny.

Can I suggest that, for your essay, you continue to investigate the notion of the depiction of children as you appear to be considering? In light of your potential use of your own childhood and its 'nostalgia' of simpler times, the new and increasing anxiety around the depiction of children is a particularly rich subject for analysis; you might want to consider doing some research around another Barthes idea - The Death of The Author - here, Barthes argued that the meaning of something did not rest with the maker or producer of something, but rather in the minds of its audience... below is a series of links you might find useful; particularly seek out Edward Weston's image of his own son - even as I looked at it, I felt a tiny bit uncomfortable...